Conventional cargo carrying vehicles and shipping containers have swing-out cargo doors that include a latching assembly comprised of a vertical locking bar and a horizontally extending locking arm pivotally attached to the vertical bar. The vertical locking bar includes a locking cam that engages a corresponding keeper in the frame surrounding the cargo door when the cargo door is closed and the locking arm is in a position parallel with the door. The locking cam is disengaged from the keeper when the locking arm is rotated to a position perpendicular to the cargo door allowing the door to be opened. Such a latching assembly 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the locking arm 102 of the latching assembly 100 is secured in a horizontal position parallel to the cargo door 104 by a hasp assembly 106. The hasp assembly 106 includes a backing plate 108 that is secured to the cargo door 104. Upper and lower hasp members 110 and 112 are connected to the backing plate 108. The lower hasp member 112, or staple, which is stationary, receives and supports the lever arm 102 in a horizontal position (shown) and includes a generally horizontal flange 114 protruding outwardly from the backing plate 108 away from the cargo door 104. The upper hasp member 110 includes an upper end 116 that is pivotally connected to the backing plate 108 so that the upper hasp member 110 pivots or rotates within a plane generally parallel to the cargo door 104. The upper hasp member 110 further includes a lower end 118 that extends over the lever arm 102 when the lever arm 102 is supported by the lower hasp member 112 (shown) and a second generally horizontal flange 120 protruding outwardly from the lower end 118 away from the backing plate 108 and cargo door 104. The horizontal flanges 120 and 114 of the upper and lower hasp members 110 and 112 are provided with aligned holes 122 and 124 for receiving the shackle of a padlock (not shown) for securing the lever arm 102 within the hasp assembly 106 and preventing the cargo door 104 from being opened.
Where access to the cargo is to be limited, such as when the cargo comprises foods, chemicals, hazardous wastes, or the like, a tamper-evident security seal 126 such as a ribbon seal, a padlock seal, a cable seal, or the like is installed through the aligned holes 122 and 124 of the hasp assembly 106. This seal 126 must be broken prior to opening the cargo doors 104 allowing unauthorized entry into the cargo container to be detected. However, because the security seal 126 is exposed to the environment it is subject to being damaged accidentally during transport or to being cut by a vandal when the cargo carrying vehicle or shipping container is left unattended. Consequently, even if no tampering or theft occurs, the security of the cargo may be questioned resulting in added expense to the shipper and owner of the cargo, since the cargo must be inspected to verify that no tampering or theft has occurred, diverted to less profitable uses, or destroyed.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an enclosure for enclosing and protecting tamper-evident security seals used for securing the latching assembly of the cargo doors of cargo carrying vehicles and cargo containers thereby preventing the seal from being damaged accidentally during transport or from being cut by a vandal when the cargo carrying vehicle or shipping container is left unattended.